--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sometime before sleep it occurred to me…" description: "\"“Sometime before sleep it occurred to me that the true nature of being without might mean never knowing what one lacked.”\" — Tosca Lee" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/tosca-lee-19133_knowing_sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me_13876.jpg" --- # Sometime before sleep it occurred to me that the true… ![“Sometime before sleep it occurred to me that the true nature of being without might mean never knowing what one lacked.” quote by Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/tosca-lee-19133_knowing_sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me_13876.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/tosca-lee-19133_knowing_sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me_13876.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/tosca-lee-19133_knowing_sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me_13876.jpg) > ““Sometime before sleep it occurred to me that the true nature of being without might mean never knowing what one lacked.”” [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on the paradox of lacking: without awareness of what is missing, one cannot recognize the absence, suggesting that ignorance can mask desire or need. **In simple terms:** Unawareness of lack hides desire. Key Takeaway Recognition requires awareness of absence. Themes self-awareness paradox desire knowledge absence Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal growth - creative block - decision making - goal setting Key Concepts perception self-knowledge Practical Applications - mindfulness practice - coaching Questions to Reflect On - What do I assume I lack? - How does awareness change my goals? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [True nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-nature/) ## Related quotes > [“I was tired in ways that had nothing to do with sleep. It occurred to me, sitting in the car with her, that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-dexter/i-was-tired-in-ways-that-had-nothing-to-do-with-sleep-it-occurred-to/) [Pete Dexter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-dexter/) > [“Except being a real man doesn’t just mean knowing when to make a move, it also means knowing when you shouldn’t. “Nice”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-hawkins/except-being-a-real-man-doesn-t-just-mean-knowing-when-to-make-a-move/) J.D. Hawkins > [“Smart does not mean knowing everything. It is knowing yourself. So you are smart when you realize you are not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francisco-villate/smart-does-not-mean-knowing-everything-it-is-knowing-yourself-so-you/) Francisco Villate > [“Knowing the name is just a thing knowing the name isn’t enough knowing the name doesn’t mean knowing the beholder of the name..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-a-dimayuga/knowing-the-name-is-just-a-thing-knowing-the-name-isn-t-enough/) [C.A. Dimayuga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-a-dimayuga/) > [My Head of House said I lacked certain necessary qualities...like the ability to behave myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-head-of-house-said-i-lacked-certain-necessary-qualities-like-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“They lacked something that could have been given to them if we’d only known they needed it: a community around them that prepared them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/they-lacked-something-that-could-have-been-given-to-them-if-we-d-only/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [I am wearied, as if I lacked a home to go to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/i-am-wearied-as-if-i-lacked-a-home-to-go-to/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [“he lacked the guts or the wisdom, or maybe just the talent, to indicate somehow that time was liquid, that one moment was no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/he-lacked-the-guts-or-the-wisdom-or-maybe-just-the-talent-to-indicate/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I was happy, I wasnt beaten, and I lacked nothing. But it wasnt what people expect - it was very much sort of pinching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-scott-thomas/i-was-happy-i-wasnt-beaten-and-i-lacked-nothing-but-it-wasnt-what/) [Kristin Scott Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-scott-thomas/) > [“To be with her – that was all … all he yearned for and all he lacked. To be with her until the sun turned black.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cl-mentine-beauvais/to-be-with-her-that-was-all-all-he-yearned-for-and-all-he-lacked-to/) Clémentine Beauvais > [“Such were her thoughts, though she lacked the words to express them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/such-were-her-thoughts-though-she-lacked-the-words-to-express-them/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“For all that she lacked your fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/for-all-that-she-lacked-your-fire/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [My childhood lacked affection and ambience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-de-ribes/my-childhood-lacked-affection-and-ambience/) Jacqueline de Ribes > [I never knew I lacked so much confidence until I met you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karuho-shiina/i-never-knew-i-lacked-so-much-confidence-until-i-met-you/) Karuho Shiina > [“There was a skill to organizing your life into neatly bundled anecdotes, and he lacked it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-sakey/there-was-a-skill-to-organizing-your-life-into-neatly-bundled/) [Marcus Sakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-sakey/) ## More by Tosca Lee > [“In the beginning there was God...but for me there was Adam.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/in-the-beginning-there-was-god-but-for-me-there-was-adam/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [“You are necessary to that end, and to me...you are all I have of the garden. You are the image of me and of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/you-are-necessary-to-that-end-and-to-me-you-are-all-i-have-of-the/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [God has a story to tell about you. A major part of it is you telling yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/god-has-a-story-to-tell-about-you-a-major-part-of-it-is-you-telling/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [“I have always contended that girls are the sturdier of the genders and wondered in secret if the One that Is might not best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/i-have-always-contended-that-girls-are-the-sturdier-of-the-genders/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [“Go away. Go live out your gnat's existence." "But we're not done!" Her eyes lolled back to me. "Yes, we are." "But--I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/go-away-go-live-out-your-gnat-s-existence-but-we-re-not-done-her-eyes/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [“Suffice it to say, we were horrified by the entire concept of dying, even if we weren't the ones with the death sentence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/suffice-it-to-say-we-were-horrified-by-the-entire-concept-of-dying/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [“The history keepers will no doubt tell their own tale, and the priests another. It is the men's accounts that seem to survive a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/the-history-keepers-will-no-doubt-tell-their-own-tale-and-the-priests/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [“So as I said, the world was mutating," she said, prick, prick, pricking at the cloth, looking up at me once to make sure,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/so-as-i-said-the-world-was-mutating-she-said-prick-prick-pricking-at/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [“Trust me, at the time nine hundred years seemed frighteningly short - it still does. I really don't know how you cope with your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/trust-me-at-the-time-nine-hundred-years-seemed-frighteningly-short-it/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [And I know that God made the heart the most fragile and resilient of all organs, that a lifetime of joy and pain might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/and-i-know-that-god-made-the-heart-the-most-fragile-and-resilient-of/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [“She shrugged. "He sat back, called it good, and rested." I waited. She waited. I raised my brows. "And?" Her mouth curved into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/she-shrugged-he-sat-back-called-it-good-and-rested-i-waited-she/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [“Sweat trickled down my sides inside my sweater. "Why? Why did you do this?" "Because this is your life, Clay: fleeting, ephemeral, and insignificant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/sweat-trickled-down-my-sides-inside-my-sweater-why-why-did-you-do/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [I always hope that readers, of my books, will take away whatever is most meaningful to them wherever they are at right now. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/i-always-hope-that-readers-of-my-books-will-take-away-whatever-is/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [I was beloved. I had been hoped for. Somehow, I was necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/i-was-beloved-i-had-been-hoped-for-somehow-i-was-necessary/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) > [“His lips pulled back from his teeth. "This then, shall be my singular consolation, my bitter solace: that when you die - and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/his-lips-pulled-back-from-his-teeth-this-then-shall-be-my-singular/) [Tosca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) [Explore all 33 Tosca Lee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/) ## More Knowing quotes > [I certainly do care for you Jeff Campbell less than you are always thinking and much more than you are ever knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-certainly-do-care-for-you-jeff-campbell-less-than-you-are-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Therefore, brethren, pray until God gives us revelation so that "knowing this" in our spirit we may truly confess "that our old man has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/therefore-brethren-pray-until-god-gives-us-revelation-so-that-knowing/) [Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Life and death were so unpredictable. So close to each other. We existed moment to moment, never knowing who would be the next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/life-and-death-were-so-unpredictable-so-close-to-each-other-we/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [If you don't plan to live the Christian life totally committed to knowing your God and to walking in obedience to Him, then don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-arthur/if-you-don-t-plan-to-live-the-christian-life-totally-committed-to/) [Kay Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-arthur/) > [The individual, by means of the discipline imposed on him by sport, not only plays and finds relaxation from the various compulsions to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-individual-by-means-of-the-discipline-imposed-on-him-by-sport-not/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [I love feeling loved. I don't love knowing that I will always come in second place. I love the fact that at least sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/i-love-feeling-loved-i-don-t-love-knowing-that-i-will-always-come-in/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [The happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad its there. The real joy is knowing that if you felt the trouble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/the-happy-ending-is-hardly-important-though-we-may-be-glad-its-there/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [They have no right to complain! If women were cool with knowing their man is cheating on them then they have no right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-williams/they-have-no-right-to-complain-if-women-were-cool-with-knowing-their/) [Eric Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-williams/) > [Those who are the most happy appear to know it the least; happiness is something that for the most part seems to mainly consist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-brothers/those-who-are-the-most-happy-appear-to-know-it-the-least-happiness-is/) [Joyce Brothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-brothers/) > [So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/so-few-men-are-really-worth-knowing-that-it-seems-a-shameful-waste-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Trying to find this industry's tendency to celebrate the physical is a waste of time. So I'm happy to play the game. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-wilde/trying-to-find-this-industry-s-tendency-to-celebrate-the-physical-is/) [Olivia Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-wilde/) > [Without the way, there is no going; without the truth, there is no knowing; without the life, there is no living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/without-the-way-there-is-no-going-without-the-truth-there-is-no/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 7,350 Knowing quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Sometime before sleep it occurred to me that the true nature of being without might mean never knowing what one lacked.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tosca Lee" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me-that-the-true-nature-of-being/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Knowing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me-that-the-true-nature-of-being/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/tosca-lee-19133_knowing_sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me_13876.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/tosca-lee-19133_knowing_sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me_13876.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/tosca-lee-19133_knowing_sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me_13876.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sometime before sleep it occurred to me that the true nature of being without might mean never knowing what…” — Tosca Lee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tosca Lee", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tosca-lee/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Sometime before sleep it occurred to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me-that-the-true-nature-of-being/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tosca-lee/sometime-before-sleep-it-occurred-to-me-that-the-true-nature-of-being/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```